Tuesday, 15 May 2012

Crispy gooey delicious Flapjacks

The Queen visited Richmond today. Daisy and I were planning on heading out to Richmond Park to try and catch a glimpse of her. But just before we were due to leave the house the heavens opened and so beginneth two hours of alternating rain and hail.

We stayed indoors instead.

Weather like that calls for sweet treats and warm tea and cuddles on the sofa.

We've made a lot of cake recently so today, for a change, we decided to make flapjacks. They're kind of healthy right? *ahem*

If you disregard the butter and golden syrup, they actually ARE pretty good for you. Oats are low GI (which means they are full of slow release energy) and they are also packed full of fibre, B vitamins, iron and zinc.

You can also add fruit, nuts and seeds to be extra virtuous.

Flapjacks are a great rainy day recipe as most of the (few) ingredients are store cupboard basics.

We went for banana and raisin flapjacks, and they were delicious.

What you need.Mixing bowl. Saucepan.Wooden spoon. A cake/brownie tin. We used a circular 8 inch cake tin.Baking paper.

What to do.Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4.Melt the butter and the golden syrup together in a saucepan.Add to the oats and mix together in the bowl. Add more oats if required - the mix should be sticky, not runny. Add the chopped banana and raisins. The banana will make the inside of the flapjack moist once cooked - take this into account when mixing and add one last handful of oats if you think the mix isn't firm enough.Pat down into the (pre-lined) cake tin and cook for 30 minutes. Insert a knife into the centre and if still sticky return to the oven for five minutes at a time. (It took 40 minutes for ours to cook perfectly).

Serve on an Emma Bridgewater Union Jack plate with a cup of hot, sugary tea, and enjoy an afternoon indoors with your small people. Much better than seeing the Queen.